The incident
by jwg676
Summary: Prequel to the kill. Why Naruto killed the nin...


Title: The incident Rating: PG 13 Pairing / Characters: Uzumaki Naruto Word Count: 939 words Warnings: Violence but no spoilers Summary: The prequel to the kill A/N: If you haven't read the kill yet, read this first!!! A note to the reader: I don't know how to spell sakki. It means killing intent, but I am not sure if it's romanised with one k or two. If anyone out there knows, please let me know… -a fuuma shuriken was used in Naruto and Sasuke's fight against Zabuza in the anime.  
-suiton, suikodan no jutsu was used in episode 81 of the anime, and means great water attack.

(in case you were wondering)

FOR TWNJ, WHO SUGGESTED THIS J

'Itadakimasu'  
Naruto grinned up at Ichiraku and Ayame, chpsticks poised in midair over the bowl of ramen.  
His third bowl.  
In less than half an hour.

Ayame shook her head, laughing. 'Ai, Naruto-kun, you eat even more than Chouji does'  
Naruto nodded his head sagely. 'Ah, but ramen is the food of life'  
Ichiraku flapped a hand at him. 'Eat, boy, before it gets cold'  
Now Naruto looked indignant. 'Do I look like the type of person who would let my ramen go cold'  
To prove his point, he began to eat immediately, slurping the noodles with obvious enjoyment.

Just as he was about to tilt the bowl to his lips to finish off the broth, he could see three shadows out the corner of his eye. Brow wrinkling in a frown, Naruto downed the remainder of his meal, paid, and walked out.

Walking down the street, hands jammed casually in his pockets, Naruto whistled tunelessly, pretending not to notice that three masked shinobi were following him. Although they kept it dampened, Naruto could clearly feel their sakki, and it worried him. Obviously, they had it in for him. Naruto just wished he knew why.  
Fighting them in the crowded streets was going to be nearly impossible. Naruto considered his options before deciding to lure them out to the river. Three against one was not totally unreasonable he decided; there was always kyuubi's chakra if things got out of hand.

Once out in the open, Naruto felt more confident. They were still behind him, keeping their distance, but to him, they seemed more cautious now that they were alone.  
Naruto grinned – and turned around.  
'What do you want with the great Naruto-sama now?' he demanded insolently.  
Two of the masked men backed away at the challenge in his tone, but the third, a burly man despite the cloak he wore to conceal it, stepped forward.  
'We want information, brat, and you're going to give it to us'  
'Heh! Like I would do such a thing!' The nin threw off his cloak, motioning for his comrades to leave. 'If you won't give it to us, I'll beat it out of you!'

Naruto's quick reflexes saved him as the nin threw a handful of kunai at him. Twisting sideways, Naruto rolled into an awkward crouch, biting hard on his thumb in preparation to summon a frog. Before he could, the nin moved swiftly and knocked him to the ground, placing a foot against his throat.  
Instead of cowering, Naruto pulled a tongue at the nin – and disappeared in a cloud of smoke.  
The nin swore. 'Kage bunshin'  
Laughing gleefully, Naruto and several shadow clones came at the nin at a dead run. Each clone held a shuriken, and as one, they threw them at the nin – who knocked them away with a fuuma shuriken.

'Pointless,' the nin growled and slammed his fist into the nearest clone's face, watching as it vanished. The remainder of the clones he dealt with in a similar fashion before performing several fast seals. 'Suiton! Suikodan no jutsu'  
Naruto couldn't avoid the water that closed around him, and when the nin released the technique, Naruto lay on his side, coughing up water.  
'You're far too young to be playing with me, boy,' the nin told him casually. 'Just give me what I want and you won't have to die'  
'Like hell I will,' Naruto spat, enraged.  
The nin shook his head. 'Foolish'  
Naruto leapt to his feet and narrowly avoided another jet of water – and gasped as a set of arms grabbed him from behind, putting a kunai to his throat.  
'Did you think you were the only one who could use kage bunshin?' the nin asked in amusement.  
In response, Naruto closed his eyes, and drew on the chakra of the nine tails. When he felt kyuubi's chakra gathering around him, he opened his eyes and glared at the nin. 'Don't underestimate me!' he roared, breaking the shadow clone's grip easily.

Fuelled by kyuubi's chakra, and rapidly losing control of his temper, Naruto was virtually unstoppable. He leapt forward, planting his foot firmly into the nin's chest, knocking him backwards before disappearing and reappearing behind him, catching him across his temple with the flat end of the kunai.  
The nin collapsed, and Naruto caught the back of his jacket, flinging him away. The nin didn't move, but Naruto wasn't finished.  
He walked over, brandishing the kunai, and sat down on the nin's chest, ripping off the mask he wore.  
The nin stared up at him with horrified green eyes and Naruto grinned mirthlessly.  
'Now you die,' he told him expressionlessly – and brought the kunai down.

The nin gasped for breath through the gash in his throat, and Naruto felt the kyuubi's chakra fade away and with it, the return of his own emotions.  
Suddenly horrified at the blood that coated the front of his jacket, face and hands, Naruto backed away, the nin's death rattle seeming to echo in his ears.

Shaking from head to toe, Naruto stared at the blood on his hands.  
'I killed someone,' he whispered. 'I killed someone…'

The voice behind him made him jump. 'Naruto'  
Naruto stared at Shikamaru, eyes dulled with shock. 'I killed someone,' he whispered. 'I killed someone… I killed someone… I killed someone'  
Naruto was only half aware of the hand on his shoulder as he fell to his knees, losing the ramen he had eaten less than twenty minutes ago.

He had taken a life. A human, unable to defend himself.  
Naruto wondered numbly if that made him as much of a monster as kyuubi was. 


End file.
